As Jesus made his way down the Via Dolorosa – the “Way of Suffering” to the cross, “there was a large number of people following him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.” (Luke 23:27) The uneven winding path was steep and narrow which made the journey even more difficult. In His beaten and bruised condition, Jesus continued step by step, feeling the pain of the wounds from the whip, the swelling from the strikes to His face and the sheer exhaustion from a sleepless night. The chaos from the shouting crowds and yelling soldiers added to the whirlwind of the noise that surrounded Him. But when He saw…

Today I want to share with you a blog I read about another character in the bible that had a life changing experience at the cross, the Roman Centurion. (North Hixon Church of Christ) “The Roman soldiers were professionals in execution. Like thousands before and after Jesus, they marched the Son of God to “the place of the Skull” where He was to suffer a vicious, embarrassing death. The Roman soldiers were instruments of cruelty and pain. It was the Roman soldiers who scourged Jesus (Matt 27:26). It was the Roman soldiers who put the robe on His back, who fashioned the crown of thorns and beat it into His…

There are several references to fools in the bible. Balaam being made a fool by his talking donkey (Numbers 22: 29), Delilah by trying to trick Sampson (Judges 16:13) and of course the fool that says there is no God in Psalm 14:1, just to name a few. In the New Testament there are stories of the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24-26) and the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), in which the stories point the listener to watching for and following Jesus. From the world’s view, following Jesus is foolish and weak. It has been that mindset ever since Jesus’ time of ministry. When he was on the…

It’s not fair! How many times in your life have you heard those words? We all want to be on the same playing field as everyone else. And we want all the same opportunities and benefits. Sometimes we have worked just as hard as the next person to reach the top so in our minds we deserve the same things. Today’s message is about two men who had lived lifestyles that brought them to the top. These men were seen by the crowd and surrounded by Glory. They both had received the same outcome and together they were presented with two choices, life or death. These men were the two…

Simon is another character in the bible that you usually only read about at Easter time. He is the man that the Roman soldiers seized and made him help carry the cross with Jesus. “And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.” (Luke 23:26). The soldiers were becoming impatient because it was taking longer than they wanted it to. They were afraid Jesus wouldn’t make it to the hill where He would be crucified. As Jesus grew weaker, they grabbed a man out of the crowd and made him…

I was reading about a woman in the bible that you don’t hear much about except during Easter. Her name is Claudia and she was the wife of Pontius Pilate. I want to share what I discovered about her through the informative articles that I read. Very little is known about her, except that she was high-born, Roman, well-educated and wealthy – and the wife of the Roman Governor at the time of Jesus’ death. Being the wife of the Governor of Judea would not be easy. Pilate was tasked with keeping peace and stability in the region and as long as that happened he would keep his job. Imagine…

A passage in the bible that has been on my mind over the weekend is Luke 9:23 which reads, “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” When a verse is on my mind for a while it usually means I need to dig deeper because God is trying to tell me something. It’s almost always something that I am struggling with and He has the answer for me, if I really want to hear it. I began to read that passage from several different translations because I like to compare them as I…

Why do we do the things we do? To provide for our families, to fulfill a promise or goal, out of obligation or guilt? There are many reasons why we do them, but today I was reminded to look past the reason and see what my heart was like as I was doing them. There are days that our jobs are more enjoyable than others. The same with our responsibilities at home and to our family and friends. Our attitude plays an important role in how the whole process plays out. Some days when I know that the work load will be heavy and challenging, I can think myself into…

How many times have you heard those words, “Who would like to pray?” As a child when that question was asked I would look away hoping that I would not be asked because I didn’t want to pray in front of people. I would say my bedtime prayers, but I didn’t understand it as anything but asking God to protect my family and thanking Him for them. I was also taught that as a girl I didn’t have the authority to pray for certain circumstances. Those situations were left to men with that authority. As I grew older my prayers were more of asking for His help when I would…